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The Business Edge
The Business Edge
Staying Present and Building a Meaningful Life
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What does it really mean to be present as an entrepreneur?
In this podcast episode, Dr. Ethné Swartz, Professor in the Department of Management, has a discussion with entrepreneur and philanthropist Edwin Feliciano. This reflective conversation emphasizes how presence, patience, and mindset have shaped Edwin’s entrepreneurial journey from purchasing his first property at 22 to leading major business turnarounds.
Guided by Dr. Swartz’ questions, Edwin shares lessons learned over decades of experience, including the importance of listening and building trust, managing risk without losing focus, and why true success extends beyond financial gain. He also discusses practical habits for staying grounded, leading with integrity, and intentionally designing a meaningful life while navigating uncertainty.
A powerful conversation for students, entrepreneurs, and anyone looking to lead with clarity and intention in a fast-paced world.
Origins And Early Hustle
SPEAKER_03Good afternoon, everybody, and thank you for joining us for this episode. We're here in the Feliciano School of Business today to explore what it means to remain present, not just as a life philosophy, but as a way of thinking and acting entrepreneurially. Many of our students are learning today that entrepreneurship is as much about mindset as it is about opportunity. And our guest today, Mr. Edwin Feliciano, has built his business around both of these philosophies. We're going to explore with him today why this is so important and how he's used this particular philosophy to shape his business, his life, and ultimately, obviously, his entrepreneurial journey. Before we dive in, I'm going to ask Mr. Feliciano to tell us a little bit about himself and that entrepreneurial journey that ultimately led to this wonderful building here at Montreal State University.
SPEAKER_00Well, like I told you earlier, I'm very uh honored every time I come for this building. It's just amazing uh to have my name on it. And nobody knows me, that's it's pretty cool. You know, I walk around, it's a nice, nice feeling. Anyway, um uh I'll tell you a little bit about my background and um my dad uh between five and twelve, thirteen actually, um we we had a business. Um we used to, I know it's a big business now, right? You would buy stuff, you know, you take an order from somebody, go to New York, buy it, and then bring it back and sell it, right? We were doing that back then. Uh so between five and twelve, that's over fifty years easily, you know, if you think about it. Um so he actually taught me how to deal with all different cultures. You know, that's really when you're an entrepreneur, you have to deal with everybody. You can't limit your market. So um I was very blessed to have my dad who literally taught me how to deal with the black guy, the Jewish guy, the Arab guy, uh the Latino guy, the Italian guy, Irish guy, Slavic guy. It didn't matter. He made sure I knew how to connect to the people and how to do business.
SPEAKER_03And to respect them.
Mindset Over Forecasts
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And also, uh, when he did like when he did do business, he would tell tell me, zip it, and don't say a word, just listen. So part of being an entrepreneur is listening, and that's a skill set that sometimes we lose. But anyway, so um the reason I bring that up because at 13 he taught me he he he showed me how to um he he allowed me to collect rent at 13 by myself. I went with him a couple times, and then on the third time, uh, he says, today's your lucky day, you're gonna be going by yourself to collect rent. And then uh I'm gonna go through that story because that takes a little longer. Uh, but I also want to let you know, I I bought my first property at 22, um, like right out of college. Um, I got my real estate license. Um, then uh I married Mimi. Uh I decided I'm not working for the man anymore. And I I decided that um I was done with partners. So the only partner I had was my wife, Mimi, and we stuck and that was the best decision I ever made in my whole life. The best partnership is your wife and me. And you know what? Um, because today if you if you're gonna break up a partnership, it's like a divorce. You know, it's very legal, and and back then, you know, I I I don't know if you ever sold Jersey boys, they would make deals on a handshake, and that's the way it was back then. Today, you know, you have to buy a sign of contract, you have to tech phones. Yeah, it's very atmosphere. And and then uh eventually I got my broker's license, my appraiser's license, and we ran businesses and eventually got the nursing hole, and that's where the uh success really came when we turned around uh what we like to call ranching homes.
SPEAKER_03Okay, wonderful. So these were obviously really formative experiences. Um, you know, most entrepreneurs, when you speak to them, are always talking about the future, right? Future profits. They plan for that, they forecast, they want to innovate, particularly today with technology. Yeah. Whenever you and I speak and you come into the classroom, you speak about emphasizing the present, staying present, being present. So, what does that mean for you in the context of running a business and leading a team?
Real Estate Basics And Being Present
SPEAKER_00Okay, so as always, we when we're going into business, there's always a limited amount of money. So what I always tell people, make sure um you do your due diligence, meaning, you know, make sure and and and don't be uh being realistic when you put your numbers like income and expense, okay? Let's just make believe I'm buying an apartment building, 30 units. I would like to see what the income is, and I put all the expenses in, I put vacancy, and then sometimes I put like even a higher vacancy rate so that this way if it gets bad, at least I can manage that number too. So a lot of times what happens is people start going into real estate. Let's I'm just gonna talk about real estate. Um, they want to buy another building, but they don't get that each building has to stand on its own. Right? So each build, so you can't take computer to paint pork. So make sure before you start buying other stuff, um, you know. Investments make sure you yeah, it's self-sustaining. Each build each property has to be self-sustained. Then what's good about real estate is talk about wearing different hats. That's why you gotta be present, all right. Think about it. When you're uh you buy a building, you become, first of all, a landlord. So that's a collection agency, basically. Okay, and then you gotta be an attorney, an accountant, you gotta, you know, you gotta go to court, you gotta, you know, do the income and expense all the time. Uh you have to be a social worker sometimes, a psychiatrist. You know, there's so many jobs that you have to do. So if you're trying to be futuristic, you're not gonna get you're not gonna be successful because you gotta deal with the people that are there, you've got your clients. So you gotta learn how to deal with your clients. And if you're not dealing with your clients and know where they come from and how how they pay and how they don't, you know, you gotta know your business and understand what's going on today, right now. Because you can't worry if you have a challenge today, don't leave it for tomorrow. Because it's just everything will it's like a snowball effect.
SPEAKER_03Pick I'm speaker.
SPEAKER_00Right. Just continue, keep working your problem, and then eventually as uh time progresses, time always helps. You know, it heals a lot of wounds. You know, it's like when you're mad at somebody, you don't talk to them for years, but after a while, you talk to them eventually ten years down the road. You forget about it. Same same thing with the business, but you stay in tune to it because if you go if you start continuing to look for another building and you don't have the money and you forget about what you the first building, you're gonna lose that building, I promise you. So basically make sure you understand what your investment's all about, make sure you, you know, and then on top of that, you then you have a team, right? Then you gotta build your team. So I normally had an uh an attorney that he became a call, my team, an accountant, of course, uh, and my wife and my partner, and then you got employees that you gotta deal with. That's another thing. Um, when you build your team, you know, you want to be build loyalty, you know. So loyalty is understanding sometimes where they're coming from. You know, and I'm not always right. You know, um sometimes my employer has a better idea. You know, I tell people if somebody's smarter than you, hire them. You know, so you're better fine and then, you know, so uh that's me, you know, that's my personality. I I like to hear people out rather than and I don't make judgmentals calls. I'm not a hothead. I rather listen and hear what they gotta say.
SPEAKER_03So that's part of being present, right? Yeah, yeah. Being grounded, you know, allowing other people to voice an opinion, yeah. Take that in and make sense of that within uh the business.
Listening, Patience, And Room Reading
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I I think the more you learn how to listen to people, because listening, listening is the hardest skill right now for a lot of youth in our, you know, in our in our school, in our society right now. They're having a difficult time listening, you know, and and I think a lot of it has to do with uh uh information, like everything is instant, instant information. Everybody wants to go fast, instant information, instant coffee, you know, everything's in, you know, instant everything is instant, you know? Instant pop uh pop uh pop tarts. But what I'm pointing out to you, um sometimes you've got to be patient and have self-control and understand that, you know, you're better off taking your time when you're doing when you're facing today's challenges rather than go, go, go. Just I mean one one day at a time, you know, and we don't know.
SPEAKER_03It's interesting that when we all walking uh across campus, we spoke about the fact that if you relate this to going on a journey when you are not present and you don't take, you're not patient, sometimes that's when the accident happens.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03Um and so I think that really applies to making decisions in business as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because if you think about it, it's it's like a car, you know, a business is like a car. You learn how to drive it, right? You learn you know what to do and what not to do, right? So sometimes, you know, most people, you know, get into accidents when they're in a rush. So you gotta be you gotta have patience and self-control to look at things in a different way and say, okay, I'm I'm ready to solve a problem. Right. Um and the way and look like I said, if we're solving problems, right? Like I said, I was telling you, I said, I don't just look at it face head on. I'll look look at the problem from the back of it, on the sides, underneath it, whatever. And you know, different angles because thinking about it critically. Yeah, you have to be very analytical about stuff.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And then um and another thing about business, remember I told you about listening? Um, also when you're in a room and you have, you know, your associates and whatever it you have to be able to read that room. Because that's that's also I don't see a lot of uh students being able to do that anymore, uh, read a room. Or even adults.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00Um, I feel that that's lacking. Like I can I know where the positive energy is. When I walk into a room, I feel the positive energy. I can feel it, literally. And I think that's another loss uh trait that's happening in our society, that we're not able to read a room and understand where people are coming from.
SPEAKER_03Right, right. So um when I think our business today, I mean, for me it's defined by frequent change, particularly entrepreneurship, right? There's a lot of uncertainty, lots of risks. Um you've had to take lots of risks. I know you've told me the story in depth about how to turn around the nursing uh uh home that you purchased. Um those were stressful periods for you and your wife. How did you stay present then and what helped you during those moments when things didn't go as planned?
Crisis, Pivoting, And Team Energy
SPEAKER_00Right, right. I I uh you know what? Um, the guy upstairs helped a lot, I guess I have to say. But also when you're facing uh like what's working in the past sometimes doesn't work today. So you gotta pivot. You have to change, you have to um you gotta, and then you when you got your team man, sometimes you you you gotta be the thermostat. Anybody else is the temperature, you're the thermostat. You've got to hear what's going on. But I always tell people, tell me what's in your head. This way I can like better assess what's going on. We're constantly assessing our environment, right? So really that's what we do when you're an entrepreneur.
SPEAKER_03And actually in the management literature in my classes, I teach students that what aren't good entrepreneurs are able to make sense, right? They sense what's happening in the environment. Right. And then based on that make decisions and then make leadership decisions, right? Right. So that's what I'm hearing you say.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and then, you know, and when things are are tough, you know, and you got your team, sometimes, you know, people want to throw stones. You know what? I tell them, look, listen, listen, listen. We're part of the team. We're here to build each other up. Okay, you made a mistake, you know. Sometimes you gotta give a little grace, you know, let things go. You know, like Megan Trainer saw, my name is known, my sign is known, my number is no, you gotta let it go, okay? So, same with your team. Sometimes they need grace, all right? Give it to them, you know, and move on. Because when you're bringing negative energy into the equation, you're not gonna be successful, I can promise you. So when you're focused and you're moving with the positive energy and flow and you're getting, you're starting to figure out what the problem is and how you're gonna tackle it. Like we were talking as we were walking here from lunch, thank you for lunch, by the way.
SPEAKER_01You're welcome.
SPEAKER_00Um I just remember telling you, um, when you're focused, you make better decisions. When you're not focused and you're a hothead, you're not gonna make good decisions along the way.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so um making decisions, but not in a hot-headed way. Um, you know, you're still talking about being decisive, right? Yeah. Um because sometimes you do have to move fast. Um how do you do that? And be while also being disciplined, right? Being mindful, being grounded. Um, why is it so important to learn how to do that? And obviously, you you are luckier than many people because you've been doing this for a long time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So um young people who start businesses today may not have had that exposure to practice that.
Turnarounds, Integrity, And Trust
SPEAKER_00Right. Um so like I think a good concept is like when you look at the glass, I look at it half full, not half, and most people look at it half empty. So again, it's the positive side of things. You gotta look be more positive. Um, and like I said, um when you're you gotta be less judgmental and more accepting of others. Um and like I told you earlier, sometimes like my employees have a great idea. You know, use it, you know, that's what they're there. You're paying them, they you're paying them they're you're paying them their salary, whatever it is, and you know, and so I use what's around me. Yeah. And uh and I also I have, you know, my wife, who's uh she can run any Fortune 500 company, and uh she's pretty good too. But uh uh I have her as a consultant and uh have my uh partners. So if I had when what but even back then I had her, I didn't have my other partners, but her her and I were disgusting late into the into the night. Sometimes I remember when we were turning around um the nursing homes, there was a spell there, you know, we had so many empties. Um empty beds, yeah. Sorry, yeah, empty beds. We had a 706-belt facility, 120 empty beds. But um, and I remember from I started and I never was in that business until July of 2001. And then we had nine one happen. Um, and then I remember from September to October 15th for uh 45 days. We slept maybe two hours because we just had we were trying to figure, you know, two hours a night that is. Um we were just trying to figure out how we're gonna do this, how we're gonna let let um you know, let those people like we had 750 employees at the time, we had like little fifth me. We had to, you know, uh close a wing. Um the union was trying to kind of come in. It would it's it just it was a sad situation. We had no business coming in. And then uh October 15th, everything changed. And I went to like I said, I told you the story before. I went to church the the day before and I gave the Lord my plate. And the next day I and the phrasing thing, the place that I I got all the business was made and was called South Beach Psychiatric Center, and as you know, I built South Beach on the Long Branch. But uh go figure that one out. But and when I got there and I forget, um that door that day, the 15th, that day, the door was blew wide open. And I could tell you, uh, since that day on, um that's the reason I'm here today.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00I can tell you that, because you know, we turned around that business. And you know, and I want you to know, turnaround is something that um it's not so easy. Yeah, everybody thinks it's so easy. Of course. And and thank God my wife and I were used to because we bought three buildings and each one was a turnaround. We had to, you know, first change it, you know, fix it up, change the tenancy, um, fill it up. Sometimes most of the time, you know, attorney uh not attorneys, uh lawyers, uh not totally lawyers, um, sellers are liars. So you have to like understand that, you know, okay, we bought the building, whatever. Some there was some some vacancies that they didn't say that was there. Uh sometimes the rent's not the same. But our job, you know, you can't cry with spilt well, you got the building, fix it, and move on. And I can tell you, each building, even the nursing homes, every time we sold it, we allowed the other, uh, whoever was buying it to make money. We didn't, we're not about like it's like, you know, like uh like raising a kid. A business is like raising a kid, right? Think about it. So when you're you know, you get you got it from a baby and you got it to about 13 and adolescent. And when you sell it, you want it to be successful, right? Of course, so you want the next person coming in to be successful. And I think that too helps um the way I deal with people also and had how they deal with me, because if there is a deal out there, guess what? Eddie's gonna get a clerk. Because they like me.
SPEAKER_03That's probably partly because of the reputation and trust you've yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but if I tell you something, it's the truth. It's not I don't cheat. I that's one thing about um I learned you can't cheat, because it does catch up to you. Um I learned that uh, you know, like I said, if if you want to be successful in life, do the right thing whether people are looking or not looking. But just do it right there.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so I want to speak about building a meaningful life.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
Meaningful Life, Networks, And Giving
SPEAKER_03Because I've learned so much about that from you. Um, and I think our students intuitively uh gravitate towards you when I bring you into my classes. Um they really enjoy hearing about your life as well. So many people uh think that entrepreneurship is mainly about success and being financially rewarded. Um From your experience, can you speak about how cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset can help someone also design, deliberately design a meaningful life? So when I speak about the meaningful life, you know, it's when I look at you, what you and your wife do, the communities here in New Jersey, in Patterson, in other parts of the world, you know, the vision that you have for the many philanthropic um endeavors you are involved in. Um for me that's as much a part of your entrepreneurial journey as your your business. So what does the meaningful life mean to you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um first of all, you I think uh when I walk into your class, what's the first question I always ask? How's your network doing, right? And I always clarify because people think I say net worth, but no, it's net worth. So um, and we have to continually make friends, whether they're your local friends or college friends, whatever, learn how to make friends. And then second of all, um once you get blessed and you're successful, whatever, um, you're supposed to bless others, right? So I've always, even when I did turning around with the nursing rooms, I remember I had a vendor machine business. And I needed like and that and I'm not like trying to brag, we were making lots of money, but and I need more money, you know, like I need a hole in the head. So basically, whatever and the machines made a lot of money. I again I had machines in all all buildings. They made over a hundred thousand easily. Let's just put it that way. Um and believe it or not, all that money I started giving it away. I would give it like me had um support like a a team, a softball team. Um I would help kids youth youth sports or you know, um help people like sometimes they needed help. Like, you know, um that's another thing. My friends would uh you know, I'm not bragging, but uh I don't really bone money. Like I try to figure out what you need and now give me the money rather than because I don't want to lose a friend. I really don't. I'm not into that. So I never realized how many friends I had until the other day my friends threw a party for me and they were claiming it was a birthday for somebody else. I couldn't even talk. But anyway, you when you build friends, you build relationships, when you're helping the community. Um, like for instance, I have uh the senior housing medical advisories trying to help seniors. I it's not about making money. This is about helping society. When you start helping society, you you really feel good about yourself. I I do, I don't know, when I'm helping the team and them being successful, it makes me feel good. And and you know, and you're helping kids, you know, like um I told you about the Nifty Lines and Patterson. We're going from a hundred uh 155 kids to 350 kids. I mean 450 kids for the past five years. And I I feel like that's really important to me. Um so making money is not as important as it was in in the beginning, but you could you can have both. You don't you you don't have to just have making money and then you know um I know a lot of miserable people with lots of money. Because they don't know how to have fun. And I think uh life it's what you want it to be. If you want to have fun and it's up to you. You can have fun. It's you know, some people seem to not have fun. That's a that's your problem. That's not mine. I'd rather have fun and enjoy life.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_00And help people.
Daily Practices For Presence
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um, and so normally when you speak to nice students, you all always kind of speak about um cultivating certain practices, certain, you know, your uh 10 vitamins. Yeah um so yeah, I wanted to speak about a daily practice that maybe students can use to stay present. And, you know, if it's something easy for students could try. Right. Could you maybe describe what you do?
Tech Boundaries, Sabbath, And Quality Of Life
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes, I can. Well, the first thing, you said the 10-escent vitamins, and I like to just stay in roast fast, but I like to talk about what the students should do. Well, first of all, I deal with uh uh the 10-essential vitamins of life. So it's called love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and forgiveness. And I fall short on every single one. But like in uh like I told you earlier, uh like Al Smith's song, you know, you gotta get back up in the saddle then. So you practice that every day. So um be forgiving towards yourself. Yeah, and don't beat yourself up. Love yourself. Oh don't hate yourself, like really, you know, really, you know, don't be so hard on yourself because a lot of times we're hard on it yourself. We don't have to be. But anyway, um, remember I always talk about playing, right? Rather when you um so uh can I tell the story about my father in law? What happened to me? Okay. Um so uh I'm 35 and and we still don't have the nursing room. And my wife and I have three buildings, and I got two young men, two boys. One's two and four, and uh, and I had the buildings, and I hated Monday. I didn't I didn't like Monday, it was a really tough day for me. And I go see my father-in-law, and we would have Sunday dinner, and uh and I'm sitting there, and he had way more problems than I did. And he's in the patio with the awning, he's smoking a cigar, like the got like no problems whatsoever. And I know he had way more problems than me. So I look at him, I said, Jerry, so how do you how do you manage how do you manage Monday? He goes, What do you mean, how do you manage Monday? I go, Yeah, how do you I how do you manage work on Monday? Oh, he goes, Oh, that he goes, I never go to work on Monday. I go, what do you mean? He goes, Yeah, well, some people they like the boss, they go to work, they like the boss, some don't like the boss, they like the co-worker, some uh like uh uh their co-workers, and some don't some just do to get a paycheck, some just do with passport time, but I never go to work. So I go, so what do you do, Jerry? He goes, I go to play. So from 35 till today, every day, every Monday, every Tuesday, when I go to play. Because when you go with that attitude, remember your attitude controls your altitude, right? So my attitude is I'd rather go into I don't go to work no more, I go to play. And uh and you're a lot more successful when you're playing than if you're going to work with drudgery, right? So I feel that that's one thing they could do. But then also, um, I I used to, like I said, I was an athlete. So I do a lot of walking or hiking, uh, swimming. So hiking and swimming, you could practice your breathing, you know, that's that's another thing you could do. Um let's see what else I oh and then I I dance. I told you how I dance, so um, I like listening to music and singing and so you know there's there's things that you could do and it's great. And you could I I think like as we get older, also for the older group of people watching, um, I I think uh stretching is really important because we forget that we're getting older and somehow, some way atrophy sense sets in. So stretching helps you get longevity in your life. And it gives you quality of life too. Um but exercise, it's good for you. I really believe it it gives you quality of life.
SPEAKER_03Right. But what I'm hearing from you is is it's fundamentally about just changing the way you view things and the mindset. Um okay, anything else you'd like to comment on uh before we close?
SPEAKER_00No, I I I think uh I think we covered in enough things now. What do you think?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you know, the only um the only other um idea that I want to raise for any students, particularly because, you know, it's such a stressful time for students currently. And we do know that research points out that a lot of them need to put their devices down. Um and I find that uh that applies across the age groups right now.
SPEAKER_02Okay, yes.
SPEAKER_03I think it applies to all of us. Um we need to carve out time in our lives where we are not engaged with technology.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_03I mean, it has a place, it's wonderful, but then there are periods when we actually do have to put that aside. Um many years ago, my son, my youngest son, was at a college where they had to read a book uh for an English class uh called The Sabbath. And it's written by, obviously, um it's a Jewish book written by, I'm blanking on the name of the author. But anyway, it's about the Sabbath, and I read the book and it was an amazing reflection on how it is really important for individuals to define for themselves a day when they are, it's not necessarily a religious practice, but it's a practice where you can be with the people you love around you. And so in my own life, that's what I've cultivated. So on a Sunday, um, you know, that's what I do, and I try not to dry on a Sunday because, you know, living as we do in New Jersey, I spend way too long, many hours, you know, on Route 80.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_03And by the weekend, I really don't want to do long. And so I think, you know, the idea of keeping a Sabbath, not not as a religious practice necessarily, but as a practice of rediscovering yourself and your relationships. Right.
SPEAKER_00Um I I agree with that a hundred percent. I think uh my wife and I, you know, Sundays, we t even Saturdays, we try to make it um no work week, you know. We try not to family time. Yes, family time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
Joy Over Speed And Closing Gratitude
SPEAKER_00So that it's important to have family time. Um and spend time together and you know, and the thing is, you're right about the the students like today. I was walking, they're walking around like this with and and and I'm saying to myself, how are you gonna get to make friends if you're walking around like this looking at your phone and you're not assessing what's around you? You don't know what you you're what's around you. You know, um that's that's one thing. I I think um what I started to do, I I don't watch the news anymore. I really don't. Um I may watch it once a week now, maybe. But what's crazy is that, you know, with my, you know, I I always look at the uh the emails uh from my phone and I see what's going on. I get a bunch of them and I just go, but you get to know what's going on. But what's funny is I if I put the uh when I don't watch the news, I I'm not like uh uh upset and tense and stressed. That's it. I'm not stressed, intense, and I go to sleep really well. I I don't have any problems. I'm sleeping well. And and to be honest with you, what I do once a week, um maybe there'll be next week when I watch it, there might be two new things that have changed. The news is basically the same. It doesn't change much, but it's you'll you'll get of course a couple few things, but nothing real nature changing all the time. Yeah. So I I think that's one thing maybe learn how to um don't watch the news too much. Um also uh I've seen it in young students that they're uh they they work hard and and and um adults already, um, the 30s and the 30s, they gotta shut it down. They gotta like, you know, okay, you put your time in from eight to six, okay? Now that after that, that's your time. Take it. You know, don't you don't have to work all the time. You know, have fun. Right? Don't be so hard on yourself. Enjoy your life, you know. That's why, you know, uh you're helping your boss. You but you're also helping yourself. You gotta learn how to have quality of life.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00That's people don't know quality of life anymore. They just know that, oh, I I you know, like I said, everything's instant. But they may know happiness for like only like a short period of time, but joy is forever. You know, it's a long time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So and I think there's a difference between happy and being joyful. You know, like like I gave me that book mark, and it says, you know, uh, you know, tips for being present, right? Right, here it is. So first be you know, no, no, tips, tips for attaining joy. I'm sorry. Tips for attaining joy, that's it. Tips for attaining joy. Be present, be content, be peaceful, be joyful. Yeah. So, and I think if students or adults or whatever practice that, they'll start learning how to be joyful. Yeah. And I understand that it's it's it could be all day long, not just ten minutes or one minute, or whatever, you know, happy or however long happiness occurs for you, you know.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Okay, well, thank you, Eddie. Um as always, you know, it's wonderful talking to you. Um, I think we're so fortunate to have you and to have you come into our classes. Um the opportunities that you have provided many uh students but also faculty and staff here. Um, you may think people don't recognize you when you go around the hallway and the corridors, but I think more people than you realize motives you. And above all, you know, we're really grateful for what you've done. Um, and very proud of the work that you do in philanthropy beyond the uh the borders of Montclair itself. Um, and maybe, you know, at some point that's what we'll focus on because that's extremely important as well. So thank you very much.